from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The internets are flooded with iPhone on Verizon commentary -- and the buzz probably won't die down until people actually start using the phones. Until then, we'll be ignoring all the debates over whether or not it's a fatal flaw that CDMA won't let you talk and surf at the same time. As Louis CK says, "Everything is amazing and nobody is happy." Anyway, here are some quick wireless articles that remind us that these radio-powered gadgets always have room for improvement.

from the this-is-not-the-'open'-you-were-thinking-of dept

Verizon Wireless got plenty of attention a few months back for announcing that it would be opening its network. This was a bit of a surprise, as Verizon Wireless has been among the most closed when it came to allowing anyone to do anything on its network. Of course, there were few details in the announcement. Now, the company has revealed a bit more about its "open" plans and they're incredibly underwhelming. In fact, you can almost pinpoint the problems based on the the key points Verizon Wireless chose to highlight.

First off, in order to get on the network you'll first have to get your device "certified" by Verizon Wireless. While the company insists that "the certification process won't be lengthy, costly or complicated," most people seem to think that it may be all three. It's going to take 4 to 8 weeks to get your device approved, and the expectation is that access will involve per-byte fees. It also means that if you want to use Verizon's new "open" network you have to spend all the time and effort to build a device, and then wait, hope and pray that Verizon "certifies it." Or, you can just ignore Verizon's network altogether and build a GSM-based device and pop in a SIM card and you're ready to go. So, Verizon's "open" network seems a lot more closed, annoying and expensive than the GSM networks that are more widely available.